UPDATE 1-UK Stocks-Factors to watch on Friday Oct 12

Friday, 12 Oct 2012 | 2:47 AM ET

SHARES

(Adds further company news)

* Britain's FTSE 100 index is seen opening down 15 to 18 points, or 0.3 percent on Friday, according to financial bookmakers, retreating after a strong rise in the previous session after Wall Street pared its gains to end flat and Asian markets fell overnight. For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on

* The UK blue chip index closed up 53.04 points, or 0.9 percent on Thursday at 5,829.75, ending a three session losing streak, led by gains in commodity and financial stocks as investors' risk appetite improved after a fall in U.S. jobless. But over the week so far the blue chip index is still 0.7 percent lower.

U.S. blue chips were up 0.3 percent by London's close but ended down 0.1 percent as enthusiasm over the U.S. jobs news was undermined by a drop in Apple shares after a legal setback in a court ruling.

* Banks will be in focus as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo

both kick off the U.S. sector's third-quarter reporting season on Friday.

* HARGREAVES LANSDOWN - The financial services firm said its assets under administration increased by 2.2 billion pounds in the three months to September 30 to 28.5 billion pounds, with revenue at 68.7 million pounds, a record for any quarter and up 20 percent compared to the first-quarter of 2011.

* MORGAN CRUCIBLE - The group said its performance for the full year is likely to be materially below the board's previous expectations, with trading conditions having deteriorated across most geographies in the third quarter of the year, and group revenue in the third quarter was around 10 percent below average levels seen in the first-half.

* TRAVIS PERKINS - The builders merchanting group said trading was in-line with expectations, having improved in September, and it remains on target to meet market expectations. The firm also said its group finance director Paul Hampden Smith is to step down and it is making good progress in its search for a replacement.

* COMPUTACENTER - The IT services group said its trading result is expected to be broadly in line with the board's revised expectations for 2012, with overall revenue for the third quarter, on an as reported basis, rising 1 percent to 656 million pounds.

* CHEMRING -Private equity company Carlyle Group has been granted another extension to the "put up or shut up" deadline until Nov. 9 to make an offer for the defence equipment maker.

* INFORMA - The business information group was chased higher on Thursday as traders cited rumours of a 550 pence a share cash bid from Germany's Axel Springer International, the Daily Mail and Daily Express Market reports said.

* CRODA INTERNATIONAL - Talk of a bid approach from private equity fueled gains in the British chemicals firm on Thursday, the Daily Mail and Daily Express Market Reports said.

* ROCKHOPPER EXPLORATION - The explorer has received formal agreement from the Falkland Islands government and both relevant licensees for its farm-out agreement with Premier Oil .

* London copper slipped on Friday, and was set for a 1 percent weekly loss, as traders awaited China's latest trade data due over the weekend to gauge the economic health of the world's top metals consumer.

* Brent crude held above $115 a barrel on Friday, trading near four-week highs and on course for its biggest weekly gain in two months, supported by tensions between Turkey and Syria, lower output at North Sea oilfields and the upbeat U.S. data.

* Britain must be ready to adopt more unconventional measures so that debt cutting and the euro zone crisis do not crimp economic growth for years, Financial Services Authority Chairman Adair Turner said in a speech to financial

leaders on Thursday.

* No important British economic data will be released on Friday, so investors will look across the Atlantic for macro direction to U.S. wholesale inflation numbers, due at 1230 GMT. September PPI is seen up 0.7 percent on the month, to give an annualised increase of 1.8 percent, down from 2.0 percent in August.

The provisional Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index for October will be released at 1355 GMT, with a reading of 78.0 forecast, down from 78.3 in the previous month.